


breathe you in every single day

by somehowunbroken



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Feelings Realization, M/M, Multi, Tinder, accidental feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-12
Updated: 2018-06-12
Packaged: 2019-05-21 05:59:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14909681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somehowunbroken/pseuds/somehowunbroken
Summary: Auston's not really expecting anything when he sort of impulse-swipes right on the two hot guys on Tinder, but then they match with him. It goes way better than he ever could have thought.





	breathe you in every single day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [andersens](https://archiveofourown.org/users/andersens/gifts).



> thanks to twitter and several friends who read and encouraged this as i wrote. andersens, i hope you don't mind that i took a prompt you had for one ship and used it for another; i was super inspired!
> 
> title from selena gomez, because auston can't keep his hands to himself. he's not even lying about trying to, though.

Tinder is maybe kind of the worst app ever invented, but Auston finishes his last midterm paper two entire days before it's due and there's only so much to do on a campus that's about to close for an extended weekend, so he opens it up and flops back across his bed. He snorts when the guy in the dorm room next door comes up first and swipes left as fast as he can. The next person he's pretty sure is the girl who always falls asleep in his Italian class, and then there's someone he doesn't know, a guy a few years older than him with a gigantic cross tattooed over his entire chest. It's a series of left-left-left, and Auston sighs and starts mentally counting down as he swipes. Ten more before he closes the app. Seven. Four—

Auston blinks at his phone as number three pops up. It's a photo of two guys who are very clearly together; it looks like a staged engagement photo or something like that, one of them leaned back with his head against the other's chest, smiling up at him as the other guy smiles back, their arms tangled together around the guy in the front's torso. It's so cute it makes Auston's nose wrinkle a little, both because the cuteness is kind of too much and because using a photo of you with your ex is a Tinder rookie mistake.

He glances down, ready to swipe left and get on with his life, when he notices that the name is MitchAndZach.

He blinks again. Well, that's… Auston has never actually seen a couple trying to pick up a third before, but he's heard about it happening. It seems kind of sleazy, but it _is_ Tinder, so there's definitely been something worse. At least it's not, like, a double dick pic.

When Auston looks at the photo more closely, it's easy to see what he missed the first time. The guy in the front is really, really cute, smile so wide it looks like it maybe should hurt, and the guy in the back has such an open, fond look on his face, little crinkly lines around his eyes as he smiles back. They're fucking adorable, and Auston takes a deep breath as his finger hovers over the photo. Then he rolls his eyes at himself and swipes right. Whatever; it's Tinder. It's not like it's legally binding or whatever, and besides, they'd have to—

A notification pops up on his phone. They matched. MitchAndZach swiped right on him, too, what the hell.

Before Auston can figure out how to react, he gets a message notification. He can feel the way his eyebrow is arching up; apparently Mitch and/or Zach is really, really ready to get things moving along.

_Hi Auston! This is Zach. I know this is a little weird, haha, but my bf Mitch and I want to be really upfront here_  
_We've been together for a while and we're... curious_  
_If you're not interested in being the third person in bed, that's totally fine!! No pressure at all. We just wanted to tell you right away so you had all the info :)_  
_And don't feel obligated to respond if you're not interested! Have a good day!_

"Jesus," Auston mutters. He still isn't sure which guy in the photo is Mitch and which one is Zach, but this is either an elaborate, weird setup, or Auston's managed to match with the most sincere threesome-seeking couple in the entire world of internet dating.

It's worth a try, probably, so he mentally shrugs and starts typing.

_Uh hey this is a new one for me haha_  
_U guys look p happy in ur photo?_

He's not sure what else he wants to say. Like, he's pretty sure he's not being a homewrecker here, and if this ends up going anywhere and he gets accused of anything, well, he'll have the whole chat log to back him up. He's not sure there's a good way to ask if he's being screwed with over text, either.

_Thanks! We're pretty happy, yeah :D_  
_Are you interested in meeting in person to see if we want to take this further? Mitch should be home in about half an hour and then we're both on break until Wednesday, so we can meet you whenever's good for you_

And, well, Auston thinks as he replies _Yeah sounds good_ to either Crinkly Eye Guy or Big Smile Guy. He's not sure that it'll actually end up going anywhere, but he's a lot less bored now than he was when he opened Tinder, so maybe it's not the _absolute_ worst app in the world.

-0-

Auston's been more nervous walking into a Tim Horton's before, but that's because he's an American who had no idea what a double-double was when he first arrived in Toronto. His stomach is sort of tied in knots as he walks in, though, and he tries to play it cool as he glances around.

"Okay, wow," a voice says from Auston's left, and he turns and is suddenly face-to-face with Big Smile Guy. "Zach said you were cute, but like. Way to undersell it."

"Mitch?" Auston guesses, and wow, okay. That smile is kind of a lot to handle in person.

"C'mon, we're over there," Mitch says, nodding his head to the corner. "Zach wanted to get a table, so I went up to get our coffee. He said you didn't want anything?"

"Oh, uh," Auston says. "I'll get it? I'll be over in a minute."

Mitch's smile dims a little. "Aw, Zach said he asked—"

"He did," Auston says, smiling a little. "I'll get my own this time, though. Let me order and I'll be over, okay?"

"As long as you aren't using this as a chance to ditch," Mitch says. His eyes widen as soon as he finishes talking. "Not that you need a reason! Shit, sorry, that was a totally bad thing to say."

Auston's laughing a little, but god, this guy is sort of endearing. "I just want an Ice Capp," he promises. "I see Zach in the corner. I'll be over in a minute."

"Okay," Mitch says. "I'm gonna go over there before I embarrass myself even more."

Auston watches as he turns and almost marches over to the table he'd indicated, shoving himself in beside Zach. He's talking, but he's too far away for Auston to make out what he's saying. Zach laughs at whatever it is and looks up at Auston, and—right, yeah. Auston waves a little awkwardly and goes to order his drink.

Zach smiles at him as he walks over, and Mitch's smile might be a knockout, but Zach's is pretty nice too. "Hey," he says, and his voice sounds even warmer than Auston had imagined after their text conversation. "I'm glad we didn't scare you off."

"I mean, so far, so good, but I'm reserving final judgement," Auston says, shrugging a little as he slides into his seat. "So, uh. How are you guys doing?"

"Good," Mitch says, not bringing up the awkwardness factor, which Auston thinks is super generous of him. "We're both staring down a long weekend, so all is well in the world."

"Me too," Auston says. "Are you guys at UT?"

"Yeah," Mitch says, his whole face lighting up. "I'm in the first year of my Masters program, and Zach's working on his Ph.D. You?"

"Senior year," Auston says. "I'm studying art history and applying to a bunch of museum curation programs for next year."

"Awesome," Mitch says, leaning in a little. "I'm doing sociocultural anthropology with a focus in aboriginal health."

Auston blinks. "Uh."

Zach laughs. "He's studying people," he translates. "I'll just say 'English' and leave the technobabble out."

"I was speaking English," Mitch says, pouting a little, and god help him, Auston is mostly just charmed.

"No, sorry," Auston says, laughing a little. "I know what you were saying, man. That's just impressive as hell."

Mitch's face lights up. "See, I _was_ speaking English!"

Zach laughs again. "Babe," he says, leaning in and kissing Mitch on the cheek. He doesn't say anything else, but Mitch's pout melts off his face and he just looks really content.

"So, uh," Auston says, because what he's seeing in front of him doesn't really line up with a couple looking for someone else. Not that he has a ton of experience or whatever, but this definitely doesn't feel like what he thought it would feel like. "Why are you guys… looking?"

Mitch goes bright red and Zach snorts, then fake-coughs, as if that's going to cover it up after the fact. "Mitchy asked me if I'd ever thought about it," Zach says. "I told him that I had, vaguely, and we talked more about it and decided that we wanted to give it a try." He shrugs. "I don't know if you had any expectations or whatever, but it's not like some trouble in paradise thing that we want you to fix, or that we're bored of each other or anything."

"We're just curious," Mitch says, which is what Zach had said on Tinder, too. "Tinder seemed like the best place to find someone who might be willing to try it with no strings attached, no expectations, whatever."

"Huh," Auston says. He takes a sip of his drink to buy himself a little time, then ends up wincing and pressing his hand to his forehead, because gulping down iced coffee is a bad idea.

"Push your tongue really hard against the roof of your mouth," Zach advises. He's not laughing outright, but he's definitely amused, if Auston's reading him right. He might not be; he's known the guy for all of fifteen minutes at this point. "I swear it helps."

"Thanks," Auston mumbles, squeezing his eyes shut. He jams his tongue against the roof of is mouth, because it's not like it's gonna make it worse, and blinks his eyes open a few seconds later. "Holy shit. That's magic."

"Science," Zach says, smiling. He actually does finger guns, and Auston still wants to give it a try with him and Mitch. There's pretty much nothing that could change his mind at this point.

Auston looks at his drink again, but decides against taking another sip just yet. "Have you thought about, like, logistics? When or where or what exactly you want to do?"

"Well, we've all got off until Wednesday," Mitch says. "Unless you've got work, or stuff to do for class."

"Not really," Auston says. He's got a few readings and a paper he should at least outline, but there's no way a threesome is going to take four days. He's guessing it wouldn't even be fun anymore by the end of that.

"Okay, well, as for where," Zach says, looking at Mitch. "We're fine with doing it at our place, if you're comfortable with that, but we figured we'd probably rent a hotel room."

"Neutral ground," Auston says. He nods a little; it makes sense, and the fact that they brought it up does actually make him feel better about it. It's a little funny to think of an anonymous hotel room as the less sketchy option, but this way he doesn't have to go to an apartment with two guys he doesn't know. He's a big guy and he's pretty confident in his ability to take on someone who turns out to be a creep one-on-one, but with two guys as nicely built as Mitch and Zach look to be… yeah, a hotel sounds good for security purposes.

"And, like, tell a buddy," Mitch adds. "We're not gonna hurt you at all, but… safety, whatever. You can give whoever it is our names and cell numbers if you want."

Auston blinks a little. "You guys keep on being… not what I was expecting out of this."

Mitch blushes a little and shrugs. "We both had some kinda creepy Tinder experiences before we met each other," he explains. "And this is kind of a lot to ask of someone, so we thought that sharing what we figured out with whoever we met up with would be a good idea.'

"Thanks," Auston says, kind of touched. "That's, uh. That's really nice of you guys."

"We want you to be comfortable," Zach says, smiling at him. "I'm pretty sure it would go badly if you weren't, so the better everyone feels about everything, the better it'll go, right?"

Auston laughs. "I mean, that makes sense, yeah."

"So it's Friday now," Mitch says, looking at his phone. "If you're interested, would Monday work? We can make Sunday work, too, but Tuesday's out, and tomorrow feels a little… soon."

"Monday's good," Auston says quickly. He hesitates for a second. "I can give you guys my number, and you can forward me details? Does that work?"

"Sounds good," Mitch says, handing his phone over. "I'm saving your name with three flame emojis, just so you know."

Auston laughs and adds them when he types his name. "I mean, I'm already in. You don't have to flatter me."

"Oh, man, that's not even the tip of the flattery iceberg," Mitch replies, laughing. "Zach's studying English, remember? The poetry semester last year was a _kick_."

"You're gorgeous and I'm good at words," Zach says, shrugging and blushing a little as he smiles. "Sue me."

"Nah, I'll let you get away with it just this once," Mitch says, patting Zach's hand where it's resting on the table. "No more trying to figure out what flower best represents the colour of my soul, though."

Zach goes bright red, and Auston can't help but laugh a little. "Honeysuckle," he offers. "Bright and sweet, right?"

"Oh my god," Zach says, staring at him. "That's… that is so much better than what I came up with."

"It is," Mitch agrees, smiling widely at Auston. "Art history, you said?"

"Yeah," Auston confirms, smiling back. "I guess it's not a useless major after all. My roommate will be shocked to hear it."

Mitch and Zach both laugh, and Auston feels… pretty good about this, all told.

-0-

"What do you mean, you have _plans_ over break?" Willy asks, and honestly, there's no reason for him to sound that suspicious. "You don't have plans. You don't do things. You go wander around museums that smell like my grandpa's house and moan about how they frame paintings."

"Okay, first of all, that's why I don't invite you to go to museums with me anymore," Auston says. "I don't make fun of you for getting really into musical posters when we go downtown or, like, walk the long way to the dining hall and pass the theatre."

"I'm a terrible friend, yeah," Willy agrees. His eves are still narrowed. "Do you have a—oh my god. You have a _date_."

Auston can feel his face go beet red in an instant. "I really, really don't."

"You _do_ ," Willy says, poking Auston in the chest. "Otherwise why would you be blushing so much?"

Auston sighs loudly; maybe opting for the band-aid approach will make this easier. "I have a Tinder hookup on Monday. It's definitely not for anything even resembling a date."

Willy's jaw actually drops, and that's a thing that Auston has never seen live and in person before. "You _what_?"

"I mean, if figuring it out in advance is a date, then maybe it's a date," Auston says, shrugging a little. He's sort of enjoying Willy's shock now. "I swiped right, they swiped right, we've got a room at a hotel on Monday and it's gonna happen."

Willy's eyes are almost cartoonishly round, but he's nodding a lot, really fast. "You, uh," he says. "You don't have to play the pronoun game, man. If you're hooking up with a dude, that's totally cool."

"Thanks," Auston says. "I kind of figured, what with you having a boyfriend and all, but thank you for clarifying."

"Or, whoa, if they use they, that's cool too," Willy adds. "I didn't even think of that, shit. I'm a lousy ally."

Auston snorts. "Actually, uh. They use they because there's two of them." He pauses, then adds, "Two guys."

Willy sits down hard on his bed.

"Look, I was gonna leave like, the hotel info and their numbers and whatever with you as a just in case kind of thing, but if you're not comfortable with it, I can ask Freddie," Auston says. Freddie is legitimately the most zen person Auston has ever met, which is probably why he's the res life coordinator for their building. He's definitely heard weirder things than someone asking him to be a Tinder safety buddy, which Auston knows for sure, because he overheard Jake and Morgan ask if Freddie would get an internet officiant license so they could get married without feeling bad about only owning one suit between the two of them.

"No," Willy says, shaking his head so hard that his hair falls out from where it's been tucked behind his ears. "No, I mean. Give me all the info. I can handle it."

"Are you sure?" Auston asks. Willy still looks a little bit like Auston maybe broke his brain or something.

"I'm sure," Willy says. "I mean, I'm totally weirded out that you're gonna be in a threesome before I am, but I'm your bro. Give me the info."

"There's still time, if you and Kappy hurry," Auston says, airdropping Mitch's and Zach's contacts to Willy. "Go pick someone up at a bar tomorrow and you can get your threesome card punched before me."

Willy's face scrunches up a little. "He's working all weekend. You're gonna have to have all the fun for both of us."

"I'll do my best," Auston says, clapping Willy on the shoulder. "Thanks, man."

"No problem," WIlly, says, smiling at Auston before looking at his phone. His eyes go wide. "Oh my god, holy shit, are you—these are the guys?"

Auston frowns a little and glances at Willy's phone, but yeah, he sent the right contacts. "Yes? Why, do you know them?"

"Do you remember Hot Lab Partner from freshman year bio?" Willy asks, voice a little shrill as he points to Mitch. "And the other one is very definitely the TA for that Classic Lit class Kas is taking, oh my _god_."

Auston snorts. "That fucking figures."

"You're sleeping with Hot Lab Partner and Kas' hot TA," Willy says, and he sounds a little awed. After a moment, he holds his fist out. "Bro."

There's definitely some eye-rolling involved, but Auston bumps their fists together. "Don't tell Kappy. I don't want it getting around, just in case it comes back to bite Zach in the ass."

"Hey," Willy protests reflexively. He stops and seems to consider it for a second, then shrugs. "Actually, probably a good call."

"I thought so," Auston says. Kappy is a solid dude, but he also wouldn't know a verbal filter if one wrapped itself around his entire head to try to keep him from talking.

"I'm definitely telling him you're having a threesome, though," Willy adds. "That's fair game, right?"

Auston grins. "Can I break the news to him? He might react even better than you did."

"Not possible," WIlly says, turning his nose up primly, and Auston laughs.

-0-

Auston's been texting Mitch on and off all weekend, so he already knows that they're not gonna be at a run-down pay-by-the-hour place; still, it's a relief to park his car at a reasonable-looking Comfort Inn near the airport and walk in without worry. The clerk smiles as she gives him a room key, and part of Auston really, really hopes she doesn't know that Mitch and Zach have the other key, but the other part of him definitely gets a thrill out of her having an idea about what's going on. He thinks about it as he takes the elevator up to the eleventh floor, tapping the room key against his thigh.

He's a little nervous as he knocks on the door to 1105, but he feels better when Zach opens the door and lets out a low whistle. Willy had tried to convince Auston to dress up for the occasion, as he'd put it, and Auston had let himself get talked into a nice gray button-down but had drawn the line at slacks. He's glad he stuck to his guns on the skinny jeans now, because Zach is definitely staring.

"Hi, wow," Zach manages after a moment. "Um, come in. Mitch went to the vending machines to get a few bottles of water."

"And the view from back here is _spectacular_ ," Auston hears, and when he turns, Mitch is staring somehow even more obviously than Zach had been. He's got three bottles of water pressed together between his hands, and for some reason that's what Auston focuses on, the bead of condensation running down Mitch's hand into the cuff of his shirt.

"Uh," Zach says after a moment. "Let's all… yeah, let's get in the room."

"Listen to the man with the plan," Mitch says, bumping his hip into Auston's as he walks past him into the room. Auston smiles a little and follows him in.

"So," Mitch says, setting the water down on the bedstand and kicking his shoes off. "Do we want to just get into it, or…"

Auston shrugs. "I don't really know what the play should be here," he admits. "I'm fine with jumping right in if you guys are."

Zach laughs a little. He's leaning against the door when Auston turns to look at him. "I mean, first things first," he says, and then he walks confidently towards Auston and leans in, stopping a few inches away. "This okay?"

"Yeah," Auston says, then takes a deep breath and leans in to kiss him.

It seems bizarre now, Auston thinks, but he hadn't really given a lot of thought to what it would be like to kiss Zach before this exact moment. He's just as confident as he'd seemed, firm and somehow steady, and it's an easy kiss to kind of melt into.

Zach pulls back after a moment, a small smile on his face. "Well, I definitely think this is gonna work out, if that's anything to judge by."

"Stop having all the fun without me," Mitch says from right beside Auston, and when Auston turns, Mitch puts a hand on his shoulder. He leans over and quickly pecks Zach on the lips, then pushes his free hand into Auston's hair and pulls him in.

Mitch gets a lot of points for enthusiasm, Auston thinks, and then immediately feels a little guilty for being glad to find out that there's something Mitch isn't perfect at. It's enjoyable anyway, even if Auston has to take charge a little more vehemently than he's used to, and he's a little aghast at finding himself even more charmed by the time he pulls back.

"Yeah," Auston says, glancing at Zach, who's watching them avidly. "We're gonna be fine, probably."

"Glad you agree," Zach says, smiling hard enough for his dimples to make an appearance. "I've got an idea, if nobody else has one."

"Go for it," Mitch says, and when Auston looks over, Mitch is already smiling widely. He turns to face Auston. "Zach's good at ideas."

"I'm listening," Auston says, smiling back at Mitch before turning back to Zach. "What's the plan?"

"Well, Mitch really likes getting fucked," Zach says, pausing when Mitch makes a small, breathy noise. "So I thought I'd fuck him while he went down on you? If that works?"

"I'm into that," Auston says immediately.

"Oh hell yes," Mitch says. He's smiling again when Auston looks over. "This is why you get to make the plans."

"I get to make the plans because you're kind of a disaster sometimes," Zach says, laughing a little.

"That too," Mitch says. He reaches for his shirt and pulls it over his head in one swift movement, tossing it to the side before pausing with his hands on the button to his jeans. "Naked time?"

"I mean, it seems like it," Auston says. He's trying for dry, a little sarcastic, but he's staring hard at the cut of Mitch's hips, the dusting of hair over his surprisingly toned stomach. "Should we join you, or are you doing a striptease?"

"I am bad at doing things slowly," Mitch says, then shoves his jeans and boxers down. He steps out of them and then he's standing there in his socks, and Auston wants to laugh but he's too caught up in his staring to pull it off and he knows it.

"Take your socks off," Zach says from Auston's left, and Auston looks over to find him laying his jeans over the back of the desk chair. He's down to his boxers, and Auston feels suddenly too warm, almost stiflingly so, and he starts unbuttoning his shirt to get a little relief.

"Hot damn," Mitch says, and Auston glances up to find him openly staring. "You're built as hell, dude."

"I play rec sports," Auston says, pulling his shirt all the way off. "Thought I was gonna go pro for a while, but I figured college was a safer bet, so here I am."

"Gotta be hockey, with that ass," Zach says. "That's an ass that knows what it's like to skate laps."

"I played growing up," Auston acknowledges.

Mitch snorts as Auston starts shimmying out of his jeans. "Growing up around here, who didn't?"

Auston glances up. "I'm actually not from around here. I grew up in Arizona."

"A Coyotes fan?" Zach asks. "Wow. I don't think I've ever met a Coyotes fan before."

"Hey, fuck you," Auston says mildly as he gets his pants off.

"No, fuck _me_ ," Mitch says, reaching out for Zach. "Back to how I'm bad at doing things slowly. Want to finger me while Auston finishes getting undressed?"

"I want to," Auston says, mouth moving before his brain can process what's about to happen. "Uh. I mean, if that's okay."

"That is very okay," Mitch says, nodding quickly. "I'm super, super okay with that."

Zach nods too. "Your socks need to come off, too," he says, and then he pulls away from Mitch to look in a Shoppers bag that's sitting on the dresser.

"Zach doesn't like socks in bed," Mitch fake-whispers. "Like, it's not just a sex thing. Socks are not allowed in the bed at all."

"You kick them off in the middle of the night, and then when we change the sheets, I find out that we've been sleeping with a week's worth of socks," Zach says. "Also, if we try to have sex while your socks are still on, we have to pause a few minutes in for you to take them off, because you're suddenly too hot for socks."

It's hilariously domestic, and it makes Auston bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing at them. It's also kind of a sharp reminder about what he's here for, though, and while the domestic stories are fun, Mitch has indeed removed his socks, and Auston's ready to make something happen here. He quickly peels his own socks off, then takes a few steps closer to Mitch. "How, uh. How do you like it?"

Mitch blinks a little, so Auston reaches down, curving his hand around Mitch's hip. It's easy to slide his hand down from there, to grab at Mitch's ass a little, and Mitch's eyes go wide as he leans into it a little. "Uh," he says. "Wet and messy, when we can."

"We've got the time today," Zach says, touching Auston's arm firmly before leaning in to kiss the ball of Mitch's shoulder. "And so much lube. We should be fine."

"Awesome," Mitch says. There's nothing nervous in his smile as he leans back, twisting so he can crawl his way to the middle of the bed. It's completely unsexy, more about balance and speed than any kind of seduction, but Auston watches intently anyway as he arranges himself, adjusting the pillows he's laying on until he reaches whatever level of comfort he was searching for. When he's satisfied, he turns his smile on Auston. "Ready when you are."

"It's been more than a few days," Zach adds as he hands Auston the lube. "Start slow, eh?"

"I can do that," Auston says. He waits for Zach to smile a little before following Mitch onto the bed, settling by his hips and sitting on the lube to warm it up a little. Mitch reaches down to pat him on the thigh, and it's a little awkward, but it's reassuring in a way Auston hadn't realised he was sort of looking for until he's already relaxing.

He lays his hand on Mitch's shoulder blade, then runs his hand slowly down Mitch's back until the valley of his spine starts to rise as it becomes the curve of his ass. He runs his hand back up, then repeats the movement a few times until Mitch hums a little and stretches. It's not like Auston was waiting for a cue, but he figures that's as good as anything else, so he flicks the lube open and squeezes some onto his fingers, using what he knows from experience to be more than is actually necessary. Wet and messy, Mitch had said, and that's for sure something Auston can indulge.

"Yeah," Mitch murmurs when Auston rubs a finger against him. He relaxes into the push of Auston's finger pretty much immediately, but Auston goes as slowly as Zach had suggested, moving his finger in and out until he feels more like he's just spreading lube around than actually getting Mitch ready for anything. He pulls out and gets more lube before pushing back in with two fingers just as slowly as he had before, and Mitch makes a noise into the pillow under his face.

"Wow," Zach murmurs from the head of the bed. Auston looks up, keeping his fingers moving, to watch as Zach sits near Mitch's head. He reaches out and runs his fingers through Mitch's hair, tugging a little until Mitch turns his head, and even though the smile he gives Mitch is familiar, fond, Auston doesn't really get the feeling that he's intruding. It's nice, because he sort of worried that he would, but instead he just feels like he's part of something bigger, something that they're all an equal part in.

"Keep going," Mitch says, which is when Auston realises that he'd stopped moving his hand. He pulls his fingers out to get more lube, and he feels a little silly about exactly how much he's using, but when he pushes back in with three fingers Mitch groans and tilts his hips up into it.

Auston likes taking his time making sure his partner is prepped and ready; he hadn't really planned on blurting it out today, but he's glad he had, because the noises Mitch is making and the little hitches of his hips are really, really working for Auston. Zach is alternating between looking at Mitch and looking at Auston, and Auston really likes it, the way it seems like Zach can't decide which of them to focus on.

"How much prep do you like?" Auston asks, focusing back on Mitch for the moment. "I'm good back here, but I don't want to, like, bore you or whatever."

Zach laughs a little. "He can and will come from pretty much only getting fingered," he says, and Auston's mind shorts out a little. "You don't have to worry about him getting bored."

"You really don't," Mitch agrees, gasping a little. "I'm probably ready, but keep going? For a little while?"

Auston nods, feeling like he's in a little bit of a daze, and keeps pumping his fingers in and out of Mitch's hole. There's enough lube involved that every movement sounds slick and hot, and Auston twists his fingers a little just to hear the sound of it. Zach groans as Auston speeds his fingers up, giving Mitch a bunch of short, hard thrusts that make him whine, high-pitched and thready.

This is, Auston thinks, the hottest sexual encounter of his entire life, and his dick hasn't even been touched yet.

"Okay, I'm going to explode, I think," Zach says, leaning down to press a kiss to Mitch's shoulder. "Are you ready, babe?"

"Yes," Mitch says, rolling his hips up to meet Auston's fingers. "Yes, yes, definitely yes."

Auston laughs. "You don't sound sure about that."

"Get up here and fuck my face," Mitch demands, and as tactics to shut Auston up go, it's an incredibly effective one.

Zach laughs. "We probably should have mentioned that Mitch is a little pushy," he says, clearly amused. "You ready, Auston?"

"Hell yes," Auston says. He pulls his fingers out of Mitch as slowly as he can, then pushes in quickly once more just to hear Mitch gasp before he pulls out entirely. "Switch spots?"

"Absolutely," Zach says, standing from the bed. Auston stands, too, and Zach catches his clean hand as Auston goes to pass him, pulling him into a kiss that's way, way filthier than the last one they shared. Auston really isn't interested in letting go of Zach, but then Zach pulls back and Auston glances up, catching sight of Mitch, rolled onto his side, stroking himself as he stares at them. He grins when he notices Auston watching, slowing his hand down and squeezing himself.

"If you want to rub off against each other right there, I can definitely just finish myself off," he says, almost nonchalant, and Auston feels his eyes go wide.

"Maybe next time, eh?" Zach says, mouth curving into a smile as he leans in to brush his lips against Auston's once more.

"Next time," Auston echoes, and Zach freezes a little.

"Sorry," he says, laughing a little as he steps back. "Just… yeah, sorry. Let's finish up today before we consider a repeat, right?"

"Right," Auston repeats. He looks at Mitch, who's smiling at them kind of fondly. Or at Zach, Auston corrects in his head as he moves to the head of the bed. He's got no reason to be that fond of Auston.

"Wow, hi," Mitch says, staring as Auston settles on the bed, and Auston flushes a little. It's not like he has a porn dick or whatever, but he knows he's… proportional, and he's a big guy. Mitch doesn't look upset about it at all, which is a nice ego boost. "Come here often?"

"I'd like to come here today," Auston says, raising an eyebrow, and Mitch looks at him for a second before leaning against Auston's thigh and laughing.

"Wow, I set that one right up for you, and you didn't even hesitate," he says, clearly delighted. "That's it, we're friends now. I'm keeping you."

Zach laughs, and when Auston looks up, he's rolling a condom on. He grins at Auston when he finishes, tossing one at him. "I swear he has a manner in there somewhere," he says. "Sometimes I think it gets lonely."

Auston snorts. "I'll trust you on that, I guess."

"Hey," Mitch protests. He pushes himself up onto his hands and knees, crawling a little closer to Auston. "Let me help you with that," he says, taking the condom out of Auston's hand. He opens it quickly, tossing the wrapper to the floor, then strokes Auston a few times before slowly rolling it on. He looks up at Auston through his eyelashes, grinning when Auston can't really find any words. "See? I can be nice."

"That's being nice?" Zach asks. Auston looks at him, and he rolls his eyes a little, but he's smiling. "I don't know if that counts as nice."

"I could actually suck your dick now," Mitch says, literally batting his eyelashes at Auston. "That would be nice, right?"

"I mean, I wouldn't complain," Auston says. "Do you, uh. Should I move, or…"

"Yeah, here," Mitch says. He pushes himself up to kneeling, then pats the space in front of him. "Sit with your back against the wall, and we'll figure it out from there."

Auston nods and slides over, grabbing a pillow to shove between his back and the wall. Mitch settles between his legs and grins up at him, waggling his eyebrows a little, and Auston can't tell what his face is doing, but it makes Zach laugh.

"Yeah, he's just kind of like that," he says as he kneels behind Mitch, and Auston grins at him over the expanse of Mitch's back.

"I mean, I guess it's not the worst," Auston says, smiling down at Mitch.

"Damn right," Mitch says. He leans in and licks at the tip of Auston's dick, then pulls back, laughing a little at the noise Auston can't quite cut off. "Let Zach get in me first, okay? I'm gonna want to breathe through that."

"Yeah, absolutely," Auston says, pushing his hand through Mitch's hair. "I'm not actually gonna die from blue balls. Take your time."

"That's the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me," Mitch declares, turning a little so he can glance at Zach. "Were you ever that sweet to me? The romance is dead."

"Aw, baby, you know I love you," Zach croons, and then he pushes his hips forward. Mitch drops his head against Auston's thigh, a strangled sound coming from his mouth as Zach pulls back and thrusts back in. It's not slow but it is careful, Auston can tell, and he runs his fingers through Mitch's hair as Mitch breathes against his leg.

"God," Mitch groans, moving his head from side to side without lifting it. "God, god. How do I always forget?"

Zach slows down at that. "Too much?"

"No," Mitch says, moving back into Zach's next thrust. "Fuck, I like it. Keep going."

"Okay," Zach says, and his eyes flick to Auston. "Let Auston know when you're ready."

"I'm ready," Mitch says, pushing himself up.

Auston's hand is still in his hair, and he tightens it reflexively, keeping Mitch from leaning in. "You don't have to be," he says. "Take a minute. I swear it's fine."

"I'm good," Mitch says, tilting his head up a little. Auston lets go and Mitch smiles up at him, looking flushed but otherwise fine. He smiles. "Promise I'm ready. Can I suck your dick now?"

"I mean, I guess," Auston says, laughing a little.

"Awesome," Mitch says, and then he ducks his head down and wraps his lips around Auston's dick.

It's definitely a messy blowjob, but Auston figures that he can give Mitch a pass on technique, since Zach starts fucking him in earnest when Mitch gets situated and gives a thumbs-up. It shoves Mitch down farther than he meant to go, apparently, because he gags a little.

"Hey, Zach, hang on," Auston says. He puts his hand on Mitch's shoulder and pushes him back a little. "You okay?"

Mitch wipes at his eyes. "All good," he says. "Amateur move. Let me just…" He wraps his hand around the bottom of Auston's dick before leaning back in, bobbing his head a little as he gets a rhythm going. It's good, it's great, and then Mitch gives Zach another thumbs-up, and Auston can't decide if it's hotter to look at Zach fucking into Mitch or Mitch sucking his dick.

"Holy shit," Auston mutters, pusing his hand into Mitch's hair. He's just hanging on, not trying to control Mitch's movements or anything, but Mitch moans around his dick and pushes his head back into Auston's hand.

"You can, uh," Zach says, not breaking his rhythm at all. "He likes it if you pull a little."

"Holy shit," Auston says again. "Seriously?"

Mitch gives him a thumbs-up, and it's as ridiculous as it is effective, Mitch's apparent habit of thumbs-ups during sex. Auston grins a little, but then he tugs experimentally at Mitch's hair, and Mitch moans again, the hand he has around Auston's dick squeezing. It makes Auston gasp and thrusts his hips up a little bit, and Zach groans.

"God," he says, closing his eyes. Auston can see the way he grips at Mitch's hips a little tighter, fingers pressing into skin, and the way he speeds up a little. "This is… wow. This is good."

"Yeah," Auston says, and he can hear how his voice sounds, kind of rough at the edges. "God, so good."

Mitch pulls most of the way off and sucks harder at the tip of Auston's dick for a moment, looking up at him through his eyelashes. It's a lot to fucking handle, Auston thinks wildly, so he tugs until Mitch slides back down, closing his eyes and tipping his head back against the wall as Mitch starts coordinating the way his hand and his mouth are moving.

"Fuck," Zach bites out, and Auston opens his eyes to look at him. He's staring at the back of Mitch's head, eyes wide as Mitch goes down on Auston, and he's not thrusting so much as grinding into Mitch's ass as he watches.

Auston gets a thought, an image in his head, and he pulls Mitch off of him before he can decide if it's actually something he wants to suggest or not. You only have your first threesome once, he decides as Mitch whines a little, so he leans down to whisper in Mitch's ear. "Got an idea, if you want."

"I want your dick back in my mouth," Mitch says immediately.

Auston snorts. "If there's another condom, we can do each other."

Mitch blinks at him for a second before it clicks, and then he's grinning and nodding. "Hell yeah, I'm down for that."

"Hey, Zach," Auston says, sitting back up. He's not surprised to find that Zach has mostly stopped moving, watching them avidly instead. "Got a condom for Mitch?"

"A condom for— _holy_ ," Zach breathes out. "Yeah, uh. There's a strip on the dresser."

"Awesome," Auston says. He pats Mitch on the shoulder as he slides off the bed and walks to the dresser. There are actually a bunch of extra condoms, and Auston smirks a little as he tears one off and turns around. "You guys have big plans, or…"

"We stopped at Shoppers on the way here, and better too many than not enough," Zach says, shrugging a little and smiling. "It's not like they're gonna get the chance to go bad."

"Hey," Mitch says, and then he's pushing himself back against Zach, slowly raising himself up until he's sitting in Zach's lap. He wriggles a little and Zach groans, wrapping his arms around Mitch's waist and leaning his head against his shoulder. Mitch gasps a little, and then he throws Auston a smile. "Made a spot for you."

"I see that," Auston says. He's trying for neutral, but he can tell he misses by a mile. He holds the condom package up. "You want a hand getting this on?"

"Nah, toss it here," Mitch says, patting the bed. "Also, fair warning, this is in no way gonna be the longest blowjob you've ever given."

Auston laughs. "I'll manage," he says, tossing the condom at Mitch, who very clearly moves his hips way more than is necessary as he grabs it and tears it open, given the way Zach gasps. He actually winks at Auston as he makes his way back to the bed, and Auston laughs again as he sits. "Ready?"

"So ready," Mitch says. "How still do you need me to be? I can actually stay almost completely still if you want to, like, completely control the pace here."

"I can take it," Auston says, shrugging a little as he lays down, his head between Mitch's knees on the bed. "Do whatever feels good, man."

Mitch blinks down at him. "You are actually unreal," he says matter-of-factly. "Like, wow."

"Start slow," Zach says, patting Mitch on the hip. "I mean, see how it is, between me and Auston, and you going down on him."

"It's gonna be a lot," Mitch says, smiling brightly. "Zach, keep going until you finish, okay? But Auston, once I come, I'm gonna need you to not suck my dick anymore. I'll tap your thigh when I need you to pull off, does that work?"

Auston swallows. "Yeah, that works," he says. "Get down here already."

"Bossy," Mitch says delightedly. "Okay, let's do this."

It's a little awkward, getting everyone in the right position, but before long Auston is holding Mitch's dick in his hand as Mitch hovers over him. Auston can clearly see where Zach is stretching Mitch open, and he has to take a deep breath so he doesn't whine at how hot this whole thing is. He focuses back on Mitch's dick, reaching up to pull his hips down a little, and then he wraps his lips around the tip, teasing a little with his tongue.

"Holy fuck," Mitch breathes out. "Zach, babe, you have to—please, please—"

"Okay, Mitchy, okay," Zach says, and Auston can tell the instant he starts to move. He's close enough to see, sure, but it also fucks Mitch's dick into Auston's mouth a little, and Mitch makes absolutely the most incredible sound that Auston has ever heard in his life as Zach pulls back and thrusts again.

It takes Mitch a minute to settle into it, Auston guesses, but he can hear Mitch take a deep breath after a moment, and then he feels Mitch wrap his hand around his dick again. Auston groans as Mitch goes right down, lips meeting his fingers, and he can feel Mitch make some sort of noise as much as he can hear it. The feedback loop is kind of incredible, and the slick sounds of Zach fucking Mitch into Auston's mouth are only making it hotter. It's not like it wasn't good before, but Auston can tell he's not going to last long, not like this, not with everything he can feel and hear and see.

Mitch suddenly pulls off, letting out little almost-sobs as Zach thrusts into him, and Auston can tell he's about to come just before he does, so he reaches up and wraps his hand around the base of Mitch's dick and jerks him fast and tight until Mitch yells and jerks above him. Zach doesn't stop, doesn't even slow down, so Auston keeps his hand and his mouth working until Mitch bats weakly at his thigh. Auston lets go immediately, pushing Mitch's hips up gently and moving his head a little so Mitch's dick isn't dangling directly in his face. He half-wonders if he should shimmy out of the way, let Mitch collapse down onto the bed and finish himself off, but before he can decide, Mitch pats his thigh again. "Fuck my face," he says, and then he wraps his lips around Auston's dick.

Auston doesn't hesitate; he's really, really close, so he turns his head so it's resting against Zach's thigh and moves his hips exactly how he wants. He's really close already when Zach reaches down and runs his fingers through Auston's hair, and that's it, the last push he needs before he shouts and comes harder than he can ever remember doing in his life.

Mitch pulls off pretty much immediately, and then he's bracing his hands on Auston's thighs and using them to push himself back up into Zach's lap. "Come on, come on," he says, and Auston watches from right where he is as Mitch rides Zach, blotchy red flush all the way down his chest, until Zach inhales sharply and goes still.

It doesn't take long for Mitch to collapse; he's nice enough to do it next to Auston instead of flat-out on top of him, which is super considerate, considering how exhausted he has to be. He's smiling, though, wide and satisfied as he flails his arm at Zach until Zach lays down next to him and wraps an arm around him.

"Well," Zach says, kissing Mitch's shoulder and looking down at Auston. "I think that was a resounding success. How about you?"

-0-

"So," Willy asks, dragging it out to, like, seven syllables.

"So," Auston repeats like a normal person. "Buttons?"

Willy rolls his eyes. "You're lame," he says. "Tell me everything. Every detail. Was it incredible?"

"I mean," Auston says. He can feel himself blushing. "It was… yeah, it was good."

"Good, he says," Willy groans, falling dramatically to his bed. "You're killing me, man. That's it? It was _good_?"

Auston raises an eyebrow. "You want me to give you the play-by-play?"

"Yes," Willy says, sitting straight up.

"No," Auston retorts, and WIlly groans and drops back to the bed.

"You're the worst," he says. "Kas said we're not allowed to put a co-Tinder thing up. I have to vicariously live through your threesome, come on."

Auston snorts. "You and Kappy could pick up at any bar near campus," he says. "Unless that was a solid no to the whole threesome idea, not just the Tinder part of it."

"I'm gonna get clarification on that, believe me," Willy replies. "Was it not actually good? Were they weird about it? I bet it could get weird fast."

And that's the thing of it, Auston thinks. It could have gotten weird at any one of a million moments, but it hadn't. Auston had expected it to be awkward at the beginning but it had gone pretty smoothly; it had real potential to be weird after they'd all come, but Mitch had asked permission and then aggressively cuddled Auston and Zach at the same time. Waking up after an impromptu nap and cleaning off had been easy enough, and Zach had given him a hug-and-back-slap combo while Mitch gave him a fistbump before they parted ways, and the whole thing had been… good. Great, if Auston's being honest with himself. Fun, and not just in a sex way; Auston's not sure if the line to things getting weird would be him trying to make actual friends with the guys he had a threesome with, but he's pretty sure that in any other context, he'd already have plans to chill with them again.

"It wasn't weird," he says a little belatedly. "I just don't want to tell you about the sex I had with Kappy's TA, I guess."

"Oh, wow, okay," Willy says, making a face. "I didn't actually think about that. I have to see that guy, and I already know you slept with him. I don't need to know his dick size."

"Nice," Auston offers. "I mean, I didn't really whip out a measuring tape in the middle of everything, but it was nice."

"Yeah, I bet you had other things to whip out," Willy says, waggling his eyebrows, and Auston rolls his eyes hard even though he'd purposely set Willy up. Dirty jokes are one of the surest ways to derail whatever train of thought Willy's riding.

"I did," Auston allows, smiling a little. "I'm not giving you any more details, though."

Willy pouts. "Okay, well, tell me this," he says. "If they called again, would you go for a repeat performance?"

 _Yes,_ Auston thinks immediately, but he knows better than to blurt it out without pretending to consider it first. "I mean, probably," he says after a moment. "I had fun."

"Fun," Willy echoes. "I cannot believe that's actually the word you're choosing to describe sex with two incredibly hot guys. _Fun_."

"You can totally believe that," Auston shoots back, raising an eyebrow.

"I can, yes," Willy says. "I don't have to be happy about it, though."

Auston opens his mouth to reply, but before he can get a word out, his phone buzzes. It's a text from Mitch, and Auston does his best to keep his face neutral as he swipes it open.

_hey!! so lmao i hope this isn't weird? but like. dude zach and i talked about it and we'd be up for doing that again if you're into it. and totally no pressure!! haha lmk ;)_

Auson blinks at his phone a few times, then sets it down. He turns back to Willy, whose face is entirely too red to be normal. "What?"

Willy lets out a hysterical little giggle-snort combo. "Oh my god, that's them, isn't it? Your _face_ ," he says, laughing again and making an expression that Auston is quite sure his face has never even gotten close to making. "Holy shit, dude, are you sure that wasn't, like, the best day of your entire life?"

"Shut up," Auston says, because his other option is saying _no, I'm actually not sure,_ and that's just giving Willy ammo he doesn't need.

-0-

The second time is somehow even better than the first; Zach and Auston trade places so Auston fucks Mitch while Mitch sucks Zach off, and it's not like Auston's mind hadn't been blown the first time, but he actually can't think of words to describe it when Willy asks him about it later. The third time, they invite him back to their apartment, and he works up the nerve to ask if he and Mitch can switch places. By the time he's back in his dorm room, Auston's pretty sure that he's ruined for sex with other people for the rest of his life.

Zach's the one who texts him three weeks after the initial hookup. _Mitch's eyes are too big for his stomach. We have at least an entire extra pizza coming. Wanna eat with us?_

Auston surveys his textbook, thinks about the sandwich he planned on grabbing as a study break, then thinks about pizza. _I could do pizza but i'm not really up for anything else tonite._

 _Come over! Eat pizza! That's all we're asking I promise haha_ is Zach's reply, and Auston shrugs a little and shuts his textbook. Italian Renaissance fashion is fascinating, but pizza is definitely better.

Mitch answers the door and gives Auston a half-hug. "Pizza's on its way," he says. "I'm starving."

"Apparently Zach thinks you're not hungry enough to finish what you ordered," Auston says, walking inside and kicking his shoes off.

"I'm definitely not," Mitch agrees. "I can put away a startling amount of food, but even I can't eat four pizzas."

Auston snorts. "What the hell would make you think it was a good idea to order four pizzas?"

Mitch blinks, and Auston knows him well enough by now to know that he's totally faking innocence. "I mean, I figured we could have a friend over to help us eat it all."

"You," Auston says, but he's not sure how to follow that. "Uh. Did you get pepperoni?"

"Of course I got pepperoni," Mitch sniffs. "And sausage, and bacon. What kind of person do you think I am, exactly?"

Auston grins, can't really help it, and shrugs a little. "I definitely should have guessed that you'd go for all the meat."

Mitch whirls to face him, stares for a solid three seconds, and then cracks up.

"Oh no, you broke him," Zach says from behind Auston, and he turns to find Zach smiling at them. "Thanks for saving us from the pizza overload."

"I'm always up for pizza," Auston says. "And hey, it was a welcome break from my readings. I've got a paper to write next week, and I swear, I'm gonna start talking about underpinnings and gussets in my sleep."

"Unfortunate," Mitch says cheerily. "Zach's been talking through Chaucer and Melville lately, so I'm not actually sure which one of you has it worse."

Auston blinks. "I would not have related those two, I don't think."

"Welcome to the life of a Ph.D. English student," Zach says dryly. "For what it's worth, though, they're not actually related, although that's an interesting thought exercise. I'm writing about Melville and teaching Chaucer."

"Oh, right," Auston says. "Classic Lit? Tuesday and Thursday, two in the afternoon?"

Zach's eyebrows go up. "You're definitely not in my class."

"My roommate's boyfriend is," Auston says, grinning. "In case you didn't know, the undergrad English students call you Hot TA and the other guy Boring TA."

"Oh my god," Zach says, covering his face with his hands, but he's smiling. Mitch, on the other hand, is laughing so hard that Auston smiles, too, from the sheer force of it.

"Wait, is Boring TA Kyle Baun or Marty Marincin?" Mitch asks, still laughing. "Can I tell them it's both of them?"

"Well, one of them is boring enough to merit a nickname, and I didn't know about the other one," Auston says, shrugging a little. "I'm guessing he's probably not the most interesting, either, so go ahead and tell them I said they're both the most boring English TAs I've never met."

"Please don't start a war in the English department," Zach says, but he doesn't actually sound like he means it. "Dr. Keefe already kind of despairs a lot. I don't need to add to the stress."

"Dr. Babcock would use it to motivate us," Mitch says, wiping at his eyes. "Dr. Keefe needs to step his game up."

"Dr. Babcock is terrifying," Zach says, and it feels like a well-worn argument, but Auston doesn't actually feel left out. "Dr. Keefe actually likes us."

"Babs is fine," Mitch says dismissively, turning to Auston. "What about you? Any terrifying head-of-department stories?"

Auston shrugs and smiles a little. "Dr. Dubas is, like, the chillest guy ever," he says. "Super young, so he's relatable, you know?"

"I definitely don't know," Mitch says, grinning. "Babs is old as shit, and yes, you can tell him I said that."

" _You've_ told him you've said that," Zach says, shaking his head a little. "It's a good thing he likes you."

"He likes everybody, deep down," Mitch replies. "Sometimes it's really, really deep, but it's true."

"He terrified Freddie Gauthier so much our freshman year that he switched from anthropology to English," Zach says flatly. "Please don't tell Freddie that Babs actually likes him. I don't think he'd ever recover."

"Freddie just," Mitch starts, but there's a knock at the door. It's not like Mitch had been frowning before, but his entire face brightens. "Pizza!"

Auston laughs as Mitch pretty much runs for the door. "Has he eaten today?"

"I swear he has," Zach says, laughing a little. "Don't get between the man and his pizza, though. He puts it away like it's nothing."

"Talent," Auston says, watching as Mitch signs for the pizza and thanks the delivery guy. "Also, I mean. Take advantage of that while your metabolism will let you, right?"

"Works for me," Zach agrees. "Come on, let's go eat."

-0-

"Hey," Willy says. It's coming up on Christmas finals, and his face is oddly serious; it's not that Willy's never serious, but it's rare for him to be so open about it, so Auston thinks he's justified in feeling a little defensive.

"Hey," he replies cautiously. "What's up?"

Willy sits on his bed and pats the space beside him. Auston debates sitting on his own bed, for the point of it or for self-preservation, but ultimately decides to just sit beside Willy. It's not like Willy's going to attack him or whatever, and Auston can always move to his own bed if he's uncomfortable. Willy rolls his eyes a little as Auston lowers himself cautiously to the bed, but drama is Willy's native language, so Auston just raises an eyebrow and waits.

"Kas thinks I should approach this whole thing delicately, but I don't want to give you deflection options," Willy says bluntly. "So, like, sorry for how this is going to come off, but you realise you have feelings for your threesome friends, right?"

"I," Auston says, but he's really got nothing here. "What?"

"Feelings," Willy says patiently. "You have them. For Mitch and Zach, who you have kind of frequent, apparently incredible sex with."

"I don't have sex with them that frequently," Auston protests, mostly because that's the only part of it he can protest without lying.

Willy raises an eyebrow. "You were over there two nights ago," he says. "And twice last week."

Auston feels his face heat. "I wasn't having sex with them," he snaps. "I was working on my synthesis paper for my internship supervisor and helping Zach edit part of his thesis." And, yeah, there had for sure been some making out, but that's not sex and Willy doesn't need to know about it for the purposes of this conversation. He never needs to know that Auston's into how Mitch is an affectionate all-the-time cuddler, either.

"That's not exactly proving me wrong, buddy," Willy says, tone somehow gentle. "You know that, right?"

Auston shrugs a little. "I mean," he says, a little helpless. "It doesn't really matter. They're my friends now, in addition to everything else, and just because they like sleeping with me doesn't mean they want to, like, date me."

"Or it could mean that," Willy contradicts. "It could mean exactly that, and I really don't think it would hurt to figure that out. In fact, I feel like it would absolutely help you if you had a more clear understanding of what they want from you."

It makes Auston blink a little. "Since when are you some kind of threesome relationship advice guru?"

"The key to being a successful drama major is knowing how to avoid drama when it's not helpful," WIlly says, shrugging a little and giving Auston a grin. "Kas and I have been talking more about whether or not we want to actually try the threesome thing, and we both have a lot of opinions on, like, communication and clear expectations."

"Of course your hypothetical threesome is more together than my actual threesomes," Auston mutters, rubbing at his forehead.

Willy laughs a little and bumps his shoulder against Auston's. "Talk to them," he says. "I'm betting they think the lines are a little blurry here, too. And if they say that they don't want you as a part of their relationship, well, you can figure it out from there."

Auston frowns, because he doesn't ever want to have to figure that out, but he knows Willy's right. He suddenly has a mental image of his younger sister glaring at him, hands on hips, telling him to _be a grown-up, Auston, honestly_ , like she had when he FaceTimed her in a panic about not knowing how to cook pasta his sophomore year. She'd probably have more sympathy if she knew he was having a sort of emotional crisis, but it would probably end up with the same sentiment, even if she used nicer words for it.

He sighs. "Feelings are scary and hard," he says, as flat as he can manage.

"They're the worst," Willy confirms, patting Auston's knee. "But, like. They can be worth it, if everyone's on board with them."

"But I have to talk about them to make that happen," Auston says, hoping that Willy gives him a different option. He knows there's not some secret drama department trick to make the feelings talk happen without him having to be there for it, but a man can dream.

"Sorry," Willy says, shrugging a little.

Well, Auston thinks glumly. A man can dream for a little while, at least.

-0-

"Hey," Zach says when he opens the door. He's wearing dark jeans and a button-down with all of the buttons done up neatly, and Auston kind of aches with how good he looks. It's somehow even hotter than if he left a button or two open, and it's not like Auston didn't know about all of his feelings, but it's still kind of a slap in the face.

"Hey," Auston replies, probably half a beat too late, but Zach just frowns at him lightly as he steps back, gesturing Auston in. "Is Mitch here? I kind of wanted to talk to you guys."

"He'll be back in, like, ten minutes," Zach says. "Are you okay? Is everything… okay?"

Auston forces himself to smile. "Yeah, sure. I just… can we wait? For Mitch?"

"Yeah, of course," Zach says. The frown hasn't diminished any. "I'll text him and let him know to hurry up. Do you want a drink or anything?"

"No, I—actually, you know what, yeah," Auston says, because part of him doesn't want to do anything but talk now that he's here, but having a drink will give him something to focus on while Mitch and Zach are thinking about what he's here to say. Or, like, give him something to gulp down if he needs a second, which is honestly more likely to happen.

"Coffee? Water? I think we have some iced tea,” Zach says, heading for the kitchen. "We're both going home for Christmas, so we're kind of winding down the food supplies, sorry."

"Water's good," Auston says, trailing after Zach. The thing is, he thinks as he watches, that he could have gotten it himself; he knows where the cups are, knows how to work the finicky water dispenser in the refrigerator door, knows that Zach will bring him a napkin if he doesn't grab one for himself. Zach fills the cup halfway with crushed ice and then switches it to water, jiggling the lever to get it to stop once the cup is full, and Auston has the sudden realisation that Zach knows him by this point, too. It's nothing so dangerous as hope that flutters in his chest, but he does calm down a little bit. They're his friends; the worst that will happen tonight is that they let him down gently, and then at least he'll have the entire Christmas break to recover and move on.

"Here," Zach says, setting the cup on a napkin in front of Auston. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm okay," Auston says. He does manage an actual smile this time, and Zach smiles back at him tentatively.

The door of the apartment slamming open makes both of them turn, and Mitch runs into the kitchen a few seconds later to the sound of it slamming back shut. "I ran," he says unnecessarily, given that he's five minutes earlier than Zach had said he'd be and he's also panting and red-faced. He looks at Auston, then at Zach, then back to Auston. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," Zach says. "Auston wants to talk to us."

"You didn't have to run," Auston says, getting up and holding out his water. "Here, drink this. You look like you're about to pass out." 

"Thanks," Mitch says, taking Auston's water and draining it in about three gulps. Auston's almost impressed, honestly. He looks straight at Auston when he finishes, a determined look on his face. "Look, so, like. Zach didn't say why you're here, exactly—"

"I didn't tell him, exactly," Auston interjects.

Mitch nods. "But it feels like you're here to break up with us, and that's like… I mean, I don't want to beg you not to or anything? But man, please do not break up with us."

"I'm," Auston says. His entire world has narrowed down to the half-scared, half-defiant look on Mitch's face. "What?"

"Mitchy," Zach says, and there's something quiet and defeated in it, and Autson turns to see him give Mitch a sad smile and shake his head a little. "That's Auston's choice, sweetheart."

"Wait a fucking second," Auston says, shaking his head a little. "Why the—break _up_ with you? On what fucking planet?"

Zach turns to him very quickly. "Wait, you're not breaking up with us?"

"I came over here to ask if you wanted to date me or if we were gonna keep doing the sex-but-friends thing," Auston says. The feeling in his chest is definitely blooming into hope now.

"You," Mitch says. "Wait. What did you think was going on this whole time?"

"I mean," Auston says, shrugging a little. "We had a bunch of sex? And we also became friends?"

Zach's staring at him a little. "That's how dating works," he says slowly. "You're friends with the person you're sleeping with. Or people, in this case."

"First of all, that is not always true," Auston says, pointing at Zach. "And second, like. Were you ever going to tell me about this? Have you been stealth dating me for two months without me knowing?"

"We definitely thought you knew," Mitch says, taking a step towards him. "Auston. I fell asleep on you on romcom night. We _invited_ you to romcom night."

"It would be weird for me to assume that the couple who asked for a no-strings-attached hookup on Tinder was actually interested in a relationship without talking about it," Auston says. His head is spinning as he looks back on the last couple of months, but he's sure about that, at least. "You literally told me you just wanted to hook up. I had no idea at all that you wanted anything else, and my roommate has been trying to tell me that I might not be the only one who caught feelings, and now I find out that you thought I knew about the feelings the whole time?" He turns and points at Zach, except Zach has moved a lot closer, and he ends up poking Zach in the chest. "You're an English Ph.D. student! Use your words!"

Zach reaches up and gently covers Auston's hand, folding it against his chest. "We like you," he says simply, the ghost of a smile hanging around his mouth. "We want to date you. I'm sorry we didn't talk it out with you earlier."

"Your roommate's a smart guy," Mitch adds, and he's closer now, too, reaching out to slide his arm around Auston's waist. "You should tell him that he was right."

Auston snorts. "Not a chance in hell," he says. "D'you remember your lab partner from the bio class you took your sophomore year?"

Mitch's eyes go wrong. "Wait, you live with Hot William and you think _we're_ attractive?"

"I'm also not telling him you called him Hot William," Auston decides. "Although he did identify you as Hot Lab Partner that entire semester, so I really feel like you guys missed out on a sure thing back then."

Zach laughs, small but genuine. "Not to break up the mutual admiration party between you and your lab partner from three years ago," he says, reaching out to take Mitch's hand. "But let's make sure we're all on the same page here, okay?"

"Right," Mitch says. He smiles at Zach, sunshine dawning across his face, and then he turns it on Auston. "Zach and I really, really want to date you. It'll be like the last few months, but you'll know about it this time, so it'll be even better."

"And we understand if you don't want that," Zach adds. "Or if you want some time to think about it."

"No," Auston says, and he watches Zach's face fall before he realises what he'd said. "No, I mean—yes, of course, holy shit. Just, no, I don't need time to think about it. I mentioned that I was coming over here to essentially ask you guys out, right?"

"You did say that, but I feel like we're gonna need to double-check everything for a little while," Zach says, smiling again. "You're sure?"

Auston nods, feeling his own smile spreading across his face, and when he leans in to kiss Zach, they're both smiling too hard to make it actually effective. Mitch pulls them apart after a moment, and Auston's laughing when Mitch leans in with a determined look on his face, but it doesn't take him long to get into it for real. Maybe he's just starting to actually date Mitch and Zach, but he's already so familiar with them, with what each of them is like and what they prefer and how they enjoy themselves and each other and him.

Zach pulls them apart so he can lean in and kiss Auston for real this time, and Auston think that yeah, this is probably going to work out just fine.

-0-

("So?" Willy asks. Auston's two full hours later than he told Willy he'd probably be back, his shirt is a crumpled mess, and he is one hundred percent sure that his hair is sticking up in very single direction.

"You were right," Auston mumbles, falling to his bed, and all he can do is smile as Willy whoops and does an actual victory dance.)

**Author's Note:**

> mitch: so we're dating auston, right? we want to do that?  
> zach: oh, yeah, absolutely. i mean, we need to keep him, he's perfect with us.  
> mitch: sweet. okay. should we, like... tell him?  
> zach: nahhhhhh he'll catch on if we just, like, date him  
> mitch: sure, sounds legit
> 
> the toronto marlies are the english department, fight me
> 
> did i actually research what programs they'd be in? of course i did. zach is getting [a ph.d. in english](http://www.english.utoronto.ca/grad/programs/phdprogram.htm), mitch is doing [a masters in anthropology with a focus on aboriginal health](http://anthropology.utoronto.ca/graduate/ma-msc-phd-programs/) that he's gonna use to roll into his own ph.d. program next year, and auston is finishing his undergrad specialist degree in [history of art](http://art.utoronto.ca/undergraduates/programs/) and is getting ready to apply to the [museum studies](http://www.sgs.utoronto.ca/prospectivestudents/Pages/Programs/Museum-Studies.aspx) program. once they all have all of their degrees, they move to western canada as a founding government team looking to work with first nations people to record and preserve their histories.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[podfic] breathe you in every single day](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16809913) by [growlery](https://archiveofourown.org/users/growlery/pseuds/growlery)




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